Volocopter drone completes key certification tests

Urban air mobility (UAM) developer Volocopter has passed a certification milestone with its drone by completing a series of deconfliction test flights at the end of November with its new VoloDrone. Germany-based Volocopter will target the middle-mile drone delivery market with the VoloDrone, operating under a Special Operations Risk Assessment (SORA) from the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) on routes above sparsely populated areas and water, the company told Cargo Facts. [caption id="attachment_56860780" align="alignright" width="460"] The test flights took place at German Aerospace Center’s National Experimental Test Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems. (Photo/Volocopter)[/caption] The test flights took place at the German Aerospace Center’s National Experimental Test Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems at Magdeburg-Cochstedt Airport (CSO). The VoloDrone can carry a 200-kg payload at speeds of up to 43 knots over a range of 21 nautical miles. Primarily a UAM developer, Volocopter designed the VoloDrone around its zero-emission VoloCity air taxi, which was the first of its type to meet EASA’s safety standards. In the middle-mile category, the VoloDrone’s payload capacity is most similar to Elroy Air’s Chaparral C1 , which can carry up to 226 kg, Drone Delivery Canada’s Robin X , which carries 180 kg, and Gadfin’s planned Spirit-X , which will carry 150 kg. Like the VoloCity, the VoloDrone is a vertical take-off and landing (VTOL)-capable aircraft and features an eighteen-rotor design architecture, Volocopter told Cargo Facts . The company said that it does not have an exact certification timeline for the VoloDrone yet but ultimately will certify it after the VoloCity. Once certified, the VoloDrone will have the same Special Condition VTOL enhanced category with EASA, requiring the same level of integration as passenger electric VTOLs such as the VoloCity. Airspace integration, partnerships Volocopter said that it is working on testing airspace integration as well as reconciliation and harmonizing with other manned and unmanned aircraft, but that will require city and airspace partnerships to create safe and sustainable “U-space” corridors to fly eVTOLs with other aircraft and to build infrastructure such as vertiports in locations where the public can easily access an additional form of transportation service. The drone-maker has partnered with logistics giant DB Schenker and has attracted non-binding orders for the VoloDrone from Japan Airlines and NEOM, the new smart city being developed in Saudi Arabia, Volocopter said, adding that it is also looking at different sectors in cargo transportation, such as maritime and middle-mile transport. Cargo Facts EMEA, the essential event for stakeholders in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, will take place live Feb. 6-8 in Dubai. Register today to take advantage of early-bird pricing.

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